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Wishbone

by Lauren P. Burka (Goodreads Author)

3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 · rating details · 99 ratings · 21 reviews

Wishbone has a risky life as a prostitute. He's desperately short of money the night a well-dressed shih-aan offers to take him home. While Wishbone has heard that shih-aan are dangerous, he doesn't expect to find one of them so dangerously seductive. Rumored to be demonic, shih-aan fought humans to a bloody standstill in a war a decade past. Though peace between the two r...more

ebook, 136 pages

Published January 2010 by Torquere Books

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Feb 24, 2010 Elisa Ramblings added it

Wishbone is at the same time classic and innovative. It’s classic where it retells the story of Pygmalion, or My Fair Lady, or Pretty Woman (see how many time it was told?): a wealthy and cultured man picks a filthy whore from the streets and teaches him how to behave. It’s innovative since, what the wealthy man teaches to the whore it’s a totally different thing from the usual lessons on good manners or polished language, but is instead the power you have in surrendering.

From the very first ni...more Wishbone is at the same time classic and innovative. It’s classic where it retells the story of Pygmalion, or My Fair Lady, or Pretty Woman (see how many time it was told?): a wealthy and cultured man picks a filthy whore from the streets and teaches him how to behave. It’s innovative since, what the wealthy man teaches to the whore it’s a totally different thing from the usual lessons on good manners or polished language, but is instead the power you have in surrendering.

From the very first night, to Wishbone, the whore, Sir, a shih-aan, an alien creature that it’s not exactly human, not exactly beast, teaches the fine art of the pain/pleasure games. Without not much than few words, Wishbone experiences a fisting session and we can say that he is happy to be a whore. But it’s not much the physical pain (or pleasure) that makes Wishbone come back to Sir, and maybe not even the prospect of living in comfort, it’s more the curiosity: Sir gave him enough to momentarily sate him, but not enough to placate his thirst of life. Wishbone doesn’t know at the moment, but Sir is preparing him not to submit but to dominate. In many points we understand that Wishbone is stronger than Sir, first of all the fact that Sir gives out his real name almost immediately, and instead Wishbone lets it go much later in the story.

What at the beginning the reader, through Wishbone’s eyes and mind, can’t understand, is the philosophy of Sir and his people. For them being the one to receive pain during a sexual game it’s not a sign of weakness, but almost a privilege. When Sir “plays” with Wishbone it’s not to punish him, but instead it’s a sign that he is very pleased with Wishbone. Same with Terefar, Sir’s bed slave; he is from a lesser breed, a population that was defeated in battle. To Wishbone, Terefar is someone to commiserate, true, they more or less do the same work, but at least Wishbone is the only owner of himself. What Wishbone doesn’t understand is that Terefar is happy with his life, he has no desire at all for something different. Terefar is not to commiserate since he is “forced” to be a slave, he is to commiserate since he doesn’t know how to desire more; Terefar is comfortable with his life since he has no wish for something different. To prove to Wishbone how Terefar’s people is really defeated, Sir tells him that they are no more able to write poetry… poetry is the language of the heart more than the mind, and where there is no heart, there are no desires.

Terefar is not contender to Wishbone for Sir’s affection: first of all he has no desire to be, and second, and more important of all, Terefar has no feelings for Sir other than the ones he would have for everyone who was his master. And probably for this same reason, Sir is searching, needing for someone different. He is not displeased by Terefar, Terefar is doing perfectly his job, but he can’t be nothing more than a pet. Wishbone draws Sir since he can play the role of a pet, but for sure he is not.

To appreciate this tale you have to put back some of the boundaries that usually people who read romance have; there is no concept like fidelity or exclusivity, everything related to sex is more a question of amount of power than a simple stress relief. When Wishbone enters the story, he craves sex like and addicted craves a drug; at the end, he will be able to sip it like a expensive vintage wine. That is probably the main lesson that this fantasy “Galatea” learns during his particular tutorage.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003K16U8M/?...(less)

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Nov 02, 2012 Charly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Definitely worth a read if you like BDSM fantasy

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 8/10

PROS:
- Interesting fantasy setting: the story felt to me a bit like a Regency romance, with the way the characters dress and how they travel in carriages and which historical rules of decorum they follow. But the setting is not England: there are multiple characters in the house where Wishbone ends up, and only a few of them are human. The others are similar to huma...more Definitely worth a read if you like BDSM fantasy

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 8/10

PROS:
- Interesting fantasy setting: the story felt to me a bit like a Regency romance, with the way the characters dress and how they travel in carriages and which historical rules of decorum they follow. But the setting is not England: there are multiple characters in the house where Wishbone ends up, and only a few of them are human. The others are similar to humans but are of alien races.
- Wishbone has spunk and is practical and I liked him immediately--within a few pages. His background and history are revealed slowly but just fast enough that I never found them confusing or repetitive.
- The sex starts right off (with a fisting scene, so we’re talking serious business), but although much of the sex in the book lacks the emotional element I always like to see, I still found the scenes to be really hot. Wishbone’s reaction to the overwhelming situation he gets himself into is also honestly depicted. He’s turned on by the things Sir does to him (and by Sir himself, who is not human), but he’s also frightened by them.
- Sir is a stern but kind master. He’s not above punishing Wishbone extensively, but he doesn’t do it out of cruelty. There’s also a development in their relationship that I didn’t expect but liked very much.

CONS:
- Wishbone has to go through some definite unpleasantness. However, it’s not as harsh or difficult to get through as in some other books I’ve read.
- The borderline beastliness of Sir made me squick just a little. He has fur and/or hair in certain places where humans don’t, and Wishbone doesn’t shy away from that at all.
- On a couple of occasions I got a little weirded out by the sex scenes. There’s one scene, for example, that takes pain to a pretty advanced level--and while I don’t usually mind such things, in this book I had seen no indication that Wishbone craved that before it happened.

Overall comments: This is one of the better Master/slave stories I’ve read, but (disclaimer) I haven’t read many. I liked both of the main characters, the sex is hot, and I felt very happy at the story’s conclusion: it felt both realistic/practical and romantic.(less)

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Jun 04, 2012 JustJen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to JustJen by: Nikyta

Shelves: mm, paranormal, bdsm-d-s, ebook

I really enjoyed this story. I loved Wishbone and his relationship with Sir, and even Terefar. One of the things I liked was how their relationship changed and grew, and Sir would change their titles/status based upon the new dynamics. It is a bit of an odd world, where Sir is a sort of demon, and Terefar is basically like a domesticated pet. Wishbone is a human, but it is almost hard to remember this.

I went into this story thinking the biggest thing would be the blood play. However, that doesn...more

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Feb 15, 2010 Kassa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Wishbone is a complicated story with a lot of extreme elements thrown in. There is pretty hard core BDSM with a lot of dominance and submission issues, both sexually and non-sexually. There is a science fiction setting combined with a historical atmosphere, not fully explored or developed but with enough originality and interest to create something engaging. There is also a slight mystery but nothing that really drives the story. Ultimately the book is neither character driven nor surrounding a...more Wishbone is a complicated story with a lot of extreme elements thrown in. There is pretty hard core BDSM with a lot of dominance and submission issues, both sexually and non-sexually. There is a science fiction setting combined with a historical atmosphere, not fully explored or developed but with enough originality and interest to create something engaging. There is also a slight mystery but nothing that really drives the story. Ultimately the book is neither character driven nor surrounding a mystery and seems to revolve around the development of the main relationship, but even that is not fully drawn. This offering didn’t work well for me with too many disparate elements and poor execution, but perhaps others will feel differently.

Wishbone is the third person narrator and makes his living as a dock side prostitute. An alien species, called shih-aan, living in the city are feared and avoided. One such alien called Sir buys Wishbone for an evening. After the sexual encounter, which is a fisting scene only, Wishbone steals a gemmed comb. Unfortunately the comb is spelled and Wishbone attempts to get rid of the bad luck by returning to the man’s home and beginning forgiveness. This embarks the young prostitute on a new path and new life while destroying his old life.

The setting is a mixture of historical and science fiction. The majority of the setting is historical, likely based on London, with horse drawn carriages and a classic ambiance that historical fans will recognize. This is contrast with the presence of magic, aliens, and a church run government. The alien aspect is definitely different and creates a society of near werewolves. These shih-aan have claws, fur on their backs, are referred to as cubs when young and have a complicated social structure. This structure is based heavily on BDSM and a series of bets. Often these creatures give themselves for days to each other for ritual torture, beating, and raping. This is acceptable to them and occurs often without much shame or loss of status. At the same time the shih-aan are pretty arrogant and believe they can conquer any opposing culture. They’ve proven they can with another culture that are now treated as mindless servants and purposefully bred this way. A point of the story –though soon forgotten- is the shih-aan and their attempt to understand if humans should be treated in a similar way or given more care once taken over.

Along the same lines, there is a confusing and ill-conceived mystery involving some assassination attempts on the shih-aan due to being aliens and the church supposedly hates them for their existence. The weak thread of the shih-aan trying to understand human culture and the assassination attempts are mostly forgotten and rarely if ever explained or mentioned. The real strength of the still incomplete world building comes when one character or another tries to explain the very complicated and intricate class system and family structure. Here the real attention to detail shines and shows a fascinating culture. If only that level of detail and interest had been carried to the story as a whole, perhaps the book could have been more successful. Unfortunately the few threads offered are mostly dropped and the story focuses on the BDSM relationship between Wishbone and the main character, Sir.

The relationship between these two characters is supposed to be intense and violent with an exchange and fight for dominance. This aspect is there but never really materialized in an meaningful way. Neither character is faithful and both sleep with other people, since apparently fidelity to one person is a totally foreign concept to these aliens. The relationship is therefore supposed to rely on a unique connection and strong emotion to survive and this too never really materializes. The relationship feels manipulated and artificial. The instant love Wishbone has for Sir doesn’t make sense nor does the depth of that emotion translate. The dominance and submission game that both Sir and Wishbone indulge in does create a common thread but the fact that such things are done with other partners dilutes the real purpose of being together. Wishbone seemed to offer nothing especially unique that Sir couldn’t get elsewhere, except perhaps on a more frequent basis. Wishbone also seems to stay with Sir not out of deep and abiding love but because his life as a whore is over and being an owned slave is better than being dead.

Part of the weak relationship is due to the flat characters. None of the large cast are well developed and only given brief outlines of their personality. Neither Wishbone nor Sir is given much depth as the story relies on the almost violent BDSM sex scenes to secure their supposedly strong connection. The lack of real development to any of the characters leaves the story without a much needed contrast to the sex scenes. These scenes are rough; often involve fisting, beating, blood, and painful sex. Since the emotional connection is missing, these numerous scenes felt unimportant and added for shock factor rather than a necessary depiction of their relationship. The titillation of the strong BDSM is lost when emotional and intellectual responses are absent and the scenes focus almost exclusively on the action and violence.

Wishbone has an interesting premise and shows brief moments of decent writing with some good twists. Unfortunately the poor romantic connection, incomplete world building, and soulless sex scenes that fail to enhance either the story or characters produce a book that I didn’t like and wouldn’t want to continue with the series. There are the usual editing and problematic mistakes that typify this publisher so altogether I wouldn’t recommend the book. The execution doesn’t pull off the premise.(less)

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Nov 21, 2011 Bookwatcher ~Mary MooCow~ rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, glbt-gay, hate-it

Maybe someday I'll try it again, but not very soon.

20% read: A fisting scene and hot iron burn in his face... No... Can't keep reading Whisbone (main character and narrator) story

This book is not for me

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Jul 29, 2010 Nene rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, bdsm, fantasy, interspecies, science-fiction, rent-boys

This was actually a really clever premise but unfortunately it wasn't very well executed. The relationship between Sir and Wishbone felt forced and there was no real connection between them. There is some intense BDSM scenes in this book but they serve as just that...scenes. They don't really work to develop the relationship between Sir and Wishbone. On the other hand, there are some really unique elements and plot devices used. It's an interesting combination between historical fic and sci-fi....more

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Nov 03, 2012 Lakeisha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: wtf, wow, twisted-as-hell, slaves, tortured-heroes-heroines, sadist-bastards, scars-are-sexy, paranormal, m-m-romance, hero-abused-angst, gay-fantasy, disturbingly-good, cheating-not-nice, abuse, alpha-males

Disturbed on soooo many levels, wavered between giving this 2 stars for my loathing or 3 stars for my attention being kept at its peak...and I don't know what that says about me lol. However props must be give to the author for the world building it was strange and alien-like all the things I find fascinating, but as much as I tried to picture "Sir" my imagination committed suicide...lol. I cant quite get it out my head hence the 3 stars oh and the flipped roles was weird for me...lord I don't e...more

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Mar 30, 2013 BTina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to BTina by: Nikyta

Shelves: m-m-romance, zz-revvy, chall-mm-gb-2013-q1, fantasy, bdsm, length-3-medium-50k-99k, read-2013, prostitution, elf-dwarf-orc, zz-mm-read

Wishbone the human rentboy struggled to survive. He had a harsh life before he met enigmatic Sir, a shih-aan. The church taught that shih-aan were demons. Sir, diplomat and trader, wanted to avert a war that would lead to the defeat and enslavement of the humans in Bronlyn.

Shih-aan men played a fascinating mind game for high stakes. Their dueling "with the ritualized beating, torture and rape of the loser" was an essential part of their culture. The power play determined their social rank. Wishb...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Nikyta rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: torquere-press-prizm-books, blood-play, bdsm-kink, cruelty-abuse, cheating-open-relationship-swingers, demons, dont-like-the-ending, fisting, historical, injury-recovery, interspecies-aliens, m-m, master-slave, magic, politicians-or-family-of-politician, professionals, scifi-fantasy, voyeurism-exhibitionists, wayyyyy-too-much-sex

It's taken me a while to review this book not just because I haven't had the time but because I wasn't exactly sure what to say. For anyone wondering, yes, this book delves into a lot of 'taboo' areas, or what some people might call taboo.

I feel this book needs a warning of some type for all those innocents out there so here's that warning: Strong BDSM with major emphasis on the SM, blood play, master/slave with an open relationship, multiple fistings with double jointed hands, cruelty and abus...more It's taken me a while to review this book not just because I haven't had the time but because I wasn't exactly sure what to say. For anyone wondering, yes, this book delves into a lot of 'taboo' areas, or what some people might call taboo.

I feel this book needs a warning of some type for all those innocents out there so here's that warning: Strong BDSM with major emphasis on the SM, blood play, master/slave with an open relationship, multiple fistings with double jointed hands, cruelty and abuse, and an ending that is pretty unsatisfying. And not surprisingly, almost all that you can basically learn from my tags.

The premise of the story is quite fascinating and the world Sir brings Wishbone into was intriguing, if a bit confusing at times. The relationship between Sir and Wishbone is unusual. I honestly loved the characters and the quasi-relationship they had. What I loved most was how intense they are together. It was really something special and even though some of what they did together made me uncomfortable and squirm, it never once made me want to mark this book as a DNF.

With that said, the only things I had a problem with was the open relationship and how much sex there was. I felt, at times, the story was going nowhere except for what was in the bedroom and that just made me feel like some of the numerous smexing was pointless. I could have dealt with the open relationship and overlooked it because I can understand why it had to be the way it had to be. I didn't think it needed to be apart of the story but it wasn't that much of a problem after I thought it through. What I could not forgive was the ending. Not the cliffhangerish feel to it but the way it actually ended, the last scene written. (view spoiler)

Overall, I did like the story even though the ending dimmed my enjoyment. The book made me uncomfortable in more ways than one but I like having my boundaries pushed when it comes to books. The plot was fascinating and while I did not like some things I enjoyed most of it so I am looking forward to reading the sequel. (less)

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Jan 19, 2010 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a very strange, but interesting story. Honestly, I probably would have skipped it had I known it was set in a historical-like setting. In spite of that, I found myself enjoying the main character, Wishbone, and learning more about the Shih-aan species introduced here. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy historical and paranormal themes.

*Warning: multiple fisting scenes, tons of violence, and rough sex play.

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Mar 21, 2010 Essemoh Teepee rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am not a big fan of M/M erotica but I found Wishbone drew me into the world of this male dockside whore. It was intriguing to follow Wishbone's transition from the Alien as a meal ticket Sugar Daddy to finding both love and respect in the Shi-ahn Master to whom Wishbone gave his trust.
The sex was very rough and raw but still had the trembling undertones of love coming through the pain and power exchange.

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Feb 24, 2010 Seregil rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars
Despite the almost too violent sex scenes (this coming from a BDSM reader) the book was very enjoyable. The characters where interesting and the plot didn't bore at all. The best part of the book was probably the well crafted universe.
I'd enjoy reading a sequel of this book, as the ending seems to set the stage for one (which would take us deeper into the non-human society).

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Mar 25, 2013 Ayanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: lul-wut, reviewed

*blink. blink*

Well...that was...different.

The only thing I can think to say is to poke fun at The Violet and the Tom. There are ways to work this role exchange thing and this comes pretty close to pretty believable...much more so than the sudden shift in tV&tT.

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Jan 04, 2011 Lang rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's a great read and I loved it from the beginnig till the end!
I would give it 10 stars or should I just rate it 2 times? =)))

Recommended to m/m BDSM fans as well as shifters' fans or fans of "books with teeth" as my good friend put it =)))

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Jun 27, 2010 Mammarella rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mm, mm-bdsm-ds, mm-fantasy, favourites-mm

I love the historic/fantasy setting. Fragile peace between the two species - human and shih-aan - makes it a dangerous and enigmatic world.
Very interesting, very dark and very erotic story.
The only drawback is Ah Jinrao-Sir relationship with Sir - it is still a mystery to me after I finished the book. You think you have it all laid out for you, but something happens between the two of them at the end that twists everything and leaves you guessing. There are hints in the last chapters, but not en...more

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Jul 10, 2010 Carolyn88 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m-romance, bdsm, fantasy

This is a nice read. You have a lot of interesting characters in the story. If you like fantasy and out of this world characters you will enjoy this book.

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Jan 12, 2013 Natasha Jones rated it 2 of 5 stars

I kind of liked it.... But not my sort of reading, Good for something different.

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Jan 04, 2012 Adrianamae rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mm, to-be-finished-later

disturbing and complicated and difficult to understand.

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Sep 30, 2011 Heather C marked it as i-dont-think-so

Not safe for me!

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Jul 28, 2010 Tracy's Place added it

Shelves: m-m

DNF

The bdsm was a bit too hard core and bloody for me and I couldn't get into the story.

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Apr 01, 2012 Vfields needs to be happy! rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, ouch-yum

Okay this one came out of left field. It's kind or science fiction, kind of historical romance, all hot and interesting. Not once did it loose my attention. All the characters are well written an the story flows very well. Unlike other novels of this genre we are given just enough information to answer to questions about these odd beings from another world. Yes, there was some serious rough sex but no one got anything they couldn't handle or want.

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Apr 30, 2013 Kbooks added it

Apr 29, 2013 Letica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 28, 2013 C rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 27, 2013 Gloria Finocchi marked it as to-read

Apr 23, 2013 Ashlee added it

Apr 19, 2013 Robert marked it as to-read

Apr 17, 2013 Secret marked it as to-read

Apr 17, 2013 Rachael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 17, 2013 Dd rated it 4 of 5 stars

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About Lauren P. Burka

Lauren P. Burka is the author of MATE: Stories from the Erotic Edge of Science Fiction/Fantasy (Circlet Press, 1992), and a contributor to such publications as Best American Erotica, Absolute Magnitude, and SM Futures. Her m/m erotic science fiction romance novella, The Memorial Garden, is forthcoming from Torquere Press. She is also the editor of the upcoming ebook anthologies from Circlet Press...more

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